A realistic six-week plan at roughly 8 hours per week. Keep a free Developer Edition org open and do every task hands-on. Add two weeks if you are new to building on Salesforce.
| Week | Focus | Checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salesforce Fundamentals: platform model, apps, tabs, AppExchange, declarative vs code | You can build a custom app with tabs |
| 2 | Data modeling: custom objects, field types, lookup vs master-detail vs junction | You can build a correct data model, including a many-to-many |
| 3 | Formula fields, roll-up summary fields, validation rules | You can calculate and validate data declaratively |
| 4 | Flow: screen, record-triggered, scheduled and autolaunched flows | You can pick and build the right Flow type for a requirement |
| 5 | User interface (Lightning App Builder, pages) and deployment (sandbox, change sets, packages) | You can build a record page and move metadata between orgs |
| 6 | Full-length timed practice tests and review | You consistently score above 63% on fresh questions |
Final tips
Business Logic and Process Automation (Week 4) is the largest domain at 28% and Flow has the steepest learning curve, so give it the most time. In data modeling, drill the difference between lookup and master-detail (only master-detail gives cascade delete and roll-up summaries) and build a junction object for a many-to-many. App Deployment is the smallest domain (10%) but the easiest marks once you have run one change set yourself. Remember the exam was restructured in December 2025 into five domains - study the current guide, not older nine-section material. Avoid “exam dump” sites - they breach Salesforce policy and the exam agreement.